2.1.4 FACE-TO-FACE VERSUS MEDIATED COMMUNICATION

All the three strategies involve interpersonal communication. That is, all entail an interactive process between two people — either face-to-face or through mediated forms [http://www.uky.edu/~drlane/capstone/interpersonal/]. However, interpersonal communication is more often related to the former and is considered to be more influential when communicated through the interpersonal channels [Windahl, Signitzer and Olson, 1992: 54].

This brings us to the issue of identifying the most effective development communication strategy. All have their advantages and disadvantages, and so it is debatable as to which is the best strategy to adopt.

Cartwright [1949: 253; as quoted by Bryant and Zillmann, 1994: 91] has been quoted as saying: “It is conceivable that one persuasive person could, through the use of mass media, bend the world’s population to his will”. But, there is no social scientist today who would corroborate this view, because a number of theories that have evolved since then establish selective influence of the mass media.

Leon Festinger’s Cognitive Dissonance Theory claims that if there is a psychological discomfort between a person’s beliefs/ attitudes and actions, it leads to selective perception. The intensity of influence of the message varies depending on the importance of issue and degree of inconsistency. It might induce a ‘drive state’ whereby the individual avoids or reduces dissonance by changing beliefs, attitudes or behaviours so that the messages are perceived as consistent. It could also lead to ‘selective exposure’ leading to a tendency to avoid information inconsistent with one’s beliefs and attitudes. However, critics have argued that it can be counteracted to some extent by introducing perceived usefulness of information, perceived norm of fairness or curiosity/interest value to the information. If used properly, this can even be used to persuade a hostile audience [Griffin, 1997: 165].

Katz and Lazarsfeld have also talked about the two step flow of communication to describe their observation. They feel that media messages flow from the media to opinion leaders to the rest of the audience. In other words, media influences are mediated by the pattern of our social contacts and so they have limited effects [http://www.cultsock.ndirect.co.uk/ MUHome/cshtml/media/efterms.html]. In fact, it is believed that it is this model that connects mass or the mechanical media to interpersonal communication [Windahl, Signitzer and Olson, 1992: 52].

Hornik [as quoted Ibid:153] has come up with five hypotheses; the first two place more importance on the interpersonal channels or agents in achieving behavioural changes than the others. They are:
• Agent-Effects-Only Hypothesis
• Agent-Necessary-for-Media-Effects Hypothesis
• Additive Hypothesis where both media and interpersonal channels bring about change independently
• Substitution Hypothesis where both channels may substitute each other
• Reinforcement Hypothesis where both have independent effects with a positive interaction

John Fiske [1990: 19, 64, 65] talks about the system of encoding and decoding codes to understand human behaviour. A code is a system of signs that have a common meaning to the members of a culture or a community. They determine how and in what context these signs are used and how they can be combined to form complex messages. Thus, all codes perform an identifiable social or communicative function.

Of the many codes, the broadcast code is one that is shared by a mass audience. They are usually simple and have an immediate appeal even to people with less ‘education’. They are community-oriented and so tend to link the audience with the society they belong to. Thus, the audience, in turn, determine not just the content of the broadcast message, but also the form of the message. For example, broadcast messages have a beginning, the body and an end; an event may not have finished, but the news report on it has to have a conclusion [Ibid: 73-74]. In this way, the audience tend to control the message conveyed by the media.

The Uses and Gratifications Theory also espouses that the audience uses the media only to seek gratification for a variety of needs. In other words, instead of asking 'what do the media do to audiences?', the Uses and Gratifications approach asks 'what do audiences do with the media?'. The most commonly identified needs that the media gratifies for the audience are: surveillance (monitoring what is going on in the world), personal relationships, personal identity and diversion (entertainment and escapism) [http://www.cultsock.ndirect.co.uk/ MUHome/cshtml/media/efterms.html]. As such, Blumler and Katz suggest that media-users play an active role in the communication process by choosing and using the media to meet their own goal. The theory also assumes that the users have alternate choices to satisfy their need [Blumler and Katz, 1974: 37].

But, critics point out that this is an optimistic view. The theory overlooks the possibility of an unconscious influence that the media might have on our lives and how we view the world. The idea that we simply use the media to satisfy a given need does not seem to fully recognize the power of the media in today’s society [Blumler and Katz, 1974: 94].

In fact, all these theories apply not only to mass media but also to the popular media as well as the participatory method. The audience of a popular theatre might also suffer from selective perception just as they would absorb only those messages that would gratify their needs. The same applies to the receivers of a message conveyed through the participatory method; they would only be influenced by it at a superficial level.

Although the participatory process involves a higher level of interpersonal communication — that is so beneficial for any developmental work — it should always be supplemented by the other strategies, namely the mass and the popular media. This will help the target population, usually based in rural areas, to interpret the message reaching them and make them aware of their predicament, which in turn will ensure a more objective decision-making on their part as also mobilise them into participation.